One of the world’s most influential newspapers has placed Marbella at the centre of Europe’s escalating war against drug trafficking.

The Wall Street Journal has published an extensive investigation into the gangs operating along the western Costa del Sol, branding Marbella a luxury money-laundering hub where mafias can hide among legitimate millionaires.

‘Is this the next Acapulco?’ asked the newspaper’s UK bureau chief David Luhnow while sharing the investigation, drawing a stark comparison with the Mexican resort devastated by cartel violence.

The report, written by Sune Engel Rasmussen, examines how traffickers are using high-powered speedboats (narcolanchas) and increasingly sophisticated technology to outmanoeuvre police.

It says record drug seizures made around Marbella represent only a fraction of the cocaine and other narcotics successfully reaching the coast.

‘So many nationalities and cartels’

Juan Lujan, head of the Costa del Sol’s organised crime unit, told the newspaper that hundreds of trafficking boats now operate openly around ports and bays.

Drugs are unloaded on beaches in full view of families and children, while the enormous profits involved mean gangs can absorb the loss of an occasional shipment.

‘You won’t find anywhere else with so much variety, so many nationalities and so many cartels,’ Lujan said.

The investigation also focuses on Puerto Banus, where superyachts, designer boutiques and packed nightclubs provide the perfect backdrop for criminals hoping to spend illicit fortunes without attracting attention.

Defence lawyer Ricardo Alvarez-Ossorio, who represents suspected traffickers, said Marbella’s concentration of wealthy tourists and businesspeople made it particularly attractive to criminals.

Those with illegal fortunes can blend in alongside legitimately rich residents and visitors, he explained.

The report claims drug profits are laundered through property, gyms, nightclubs and other businesses.

More unusual methods allegedly include buying avocado crops for resale and purchasing winning lottery tickets from their owners for more than the value of the prize.

It also highlights how young people in La Linea de la Concepcion can be offered thousands of euros for a single afternoon transporting drugs or acting as lookouts.

Veteran Marbella police officer and union representative Oscar Camacho linked their recruitment to a lack of legitimate employment opportunities.

‘In the end, who feeds them?’ he asked. ‘The narcos.’